I am having an issue with my fist dying. Each time I add another fish, one that was already in the tank dies. After the last fish died I did a water check and I found I had an ammonia spike. I currently have 1 clownfish, firefish, PJ cardinal, and 1 green chromis. I was planning to turn my tank into a reef tank but I know I need to get this issue under control. Please help!
Do I need another filter???
- Thread starter robeterl
- Start date
Smitty
Reef pro
Can you post your water parameters? Your tank is still pretty young for 4 fish also, which is why it still have spikes when you add to the bioload.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
How long have you been waiting in between fish additions? Usually it's a good idea to wait at least 2 to 3 weeks in between fish.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
You don't have any powerheads?
Smitty
Reef pro
I forget to ask, what type of filtration do you have now, and how much live rock do you have in your tank?
Smitty
Reef pro
Ok, yeah that should be enough filtration. Just give the tank some time to finish adjusting, and keep up on your water changes.
Civicdemon
Go Big Or Go Home !
You should do a DIY 10 gl sump or something like that. If you dont want a sump atleast get a good canister filter and just fill it with rubble rock. I did this when i first started out since i was tight on money. I had 2 fluval 405 with rubble rock and carbon. i would also add polishing pads on the last stage but i would not do this if you dont plan on cleaning the filter every 3 to 4 days.
And defenetly get atleast 1 power head, You want between 10 to 30 times the water movement in there. so you figure 40 x 10 is 400 not 120gph. you provably have alot of stuff setleling on the sand bed.
Whats your feeding schedual like ????
Its kind wierd that you have ammonia but no nitrite or nitrates,
How much water do you change when you do water changes and how often ??? If you do to much you could cause a miny cycle and that can cause your ammonia spike.
And defenetly get atleast 1 power head, You want between 10 to 30 times the water movement in there. so you figure 40 x 10 is 400 not 120gph. you provably have alot of stuff setleling on the sand bed.
Whats your feeding schedual like ????
Its kind wierd that you have ammonia but no nitrite or nitrates,
How much water do you change when you do water changes and how often ??? If you do to much you could cause a miny cycle and that can cause your ammonia spike.
Civicdemon
Go Big Or Go Home !
Cut back on feeding ASAP. I feed misis and frozen ones every other day and Nori every day. You have small fish im sure you can get away with feeding every other day one good feeding, just what ever the fish can eat in about 1 minutes time.
little_fish
Moderator
Without any power heads your fish are probably suffocating. You need good water movement to keep the water oxygenated so that the fish can breath.
Ted
Living one day at a time
One thing that I do for water movement and a nice ripple on the surface of my water is run a powerfilter. Its not a popular choice but it works for me and decent sized powerfilter at walmart is cheaper then korila power heads (which I have three of also) for the most part I run it empty but if I decide I want to run carbon for a few days all I have to do is put in a few cartridges and I am good to go. :twocents:
